The Pink Phoenix
by Iris Elena
Summary: Michael, a faithful married man is a doctor living a normal life with his wife and daughter. But what happens when he meets a patient that comes and changes his life?


Hey you guys! I know I haven't updated anything in a while, and I do apologize but this idea has been gnawing at my brain for a while, so I'm gonna write it... Enjoy!

**Chapter 1: Introduction**

Hello. My name is Michael West… I live in New York; I have a wife named Elizabeth, and an honorable daughter named Haley... This is not your ordinary love story about how the boy and girl have sex and all of a sudden fall in love, or about how the couple breaks up and always end up getting back together, or about a couple breaking up because of a lie, and getting back together at the end, or any other cliché you can think of.. This is my story. A doctor, meeting a patient that changed his life… Now for starters, let's just start from the beginning.

I'd imagine my intro being 'Good life' by One Republic playing through the speakers of my car on my way to work… As the music fades out, I park my car, and close my door, making the music abruptly stop.

I walk down the Hospital halls with a feeling of self-establishment… Looking at my life brings me a never ending feeling of happiness. I have the perfect job, saving people on a daily basis, I make good money, I have an amazing family, and my life is just a huge ray of sunshine… I'm silently humming a tune in my head as my make my way to the front desk.

"Hey Susan." I say to the front clerk.

"Hello Michael." She smiles, a constant fake smile, before I grab my first clip board.

Patients name: Olivia Munich. Problem: throwing up, excessive vaginal bleeding, and diarrhea… It's actually amazing how my vibe could be killed in a matter of seconds just because of one patient. "Great," I mumble. "This day should be interesting."

…

After an 18 hour shift, it was great getting to go home at precisely 1 a.m.

Pulling into my marble driveway, I'd never been happier seeing my wife's silhouette through the window of our bedroom. I quickly opened the door, and closed it quietly as not to bring any further attention to my arrival. I excitedly walked up our stairs, straight through the front doors of our 2 bedroom house.

To say that our house was homey would be an understatement. When I was a child, the second bedroom in the house did not have a sign that stated "Haley's Bedroom" but rather "Michael's Room." It did not have a twin princess bed but rather a racecar bed. It did not have blue walls, it had green. As the blue matched her eyes, the green matched mine. We only moved back when Elizabeth became pregnant, after 3 years of marriage. Our 5 year old daughter couldn't be happier after knowing "Daddy had lived here."

Moving onto the living room, it felt like a book of photographs. All over the walls and floors were memories for only my eyes to see. There would be a scratch on the floor from when I played racecar with my friends. The fireplace carpet had a water stain from when I tried to make a pool on the carpet. If you looked close enough, you could see my very own art gallery all over the walls. Barely noticeable due to the cheap paint my mother bought me but one still remained. I guess after the first month of nonstop pictures on the walls, she decided to leave my best one. The last one I made in fact. It was a picture of our deceased dog Mary. Mom loved that dog as much as she loved me. Mary was her second baby, and we all treated her like she was a human. Which is why we put our current dog, Annie's bowl right in front of the picture.

Making my way past the living room, and towards the kitchen, I could just smell the dinner I regrettably missed. Liz's famous Lasagna. I could actually smell the cheeses and sauces, and a bit of garlic from where I stood. I quickly walked over, and read the note that she always put on the plate she left out for me. As always it said "Hurry up and eat so I can sleep." She had a habit of waiting up for me no matter how late I came home. Said she couldn't sleep without my side of the bed occupied. As if my nights on the couch really bothered her that much. I giggled to myself as the microwave dinged its normal 3 times. I opened the microwave and put the plate down on the black counters. Grabbing a fork quickly, I took the first bite, slightly burning my throat and tongue as it did so. I closed my eyes, in utter bliss, and just smiled at how amazing Liz can cook. I swallowed the rest down with ease, and let out a breath that probably came from my more fat side that was thinking about this meal all day.

Quickly cleaning off my plate, I made my way to the light switch, and turned out the lights, sprinting to my daughter's room.

It had become a routine for me to kiss my daughter goodnight, even though she was already fast asleep. Opening the door as quietly as I could, I walked past her enormous pile of stuffed animals, and almost tripped over her princess Ariel doll. Catching myself before I hit my head on Hayley's headboard, I stood up more firmly, not allowing this approaching chuckle to escape. I kneeled down, and just stared at my Angel's features. Even though Haley was nearly 6, she had this advanced knowledge of everything around her. She also remembers everything a person says. One day, me and Liz were joking about this house having ghosts, and to this day Haley keeps a cross above her bed, and prays every night for the 'good lord to save her from the spirits of our humble abody.' I wonder if anyone will ever tell her its humble abode.

As Haley sits up, I am snapped out of my thoughts.

"Daddy?" She whispers, in her high pitched voice. I reached my hand over to brush a blonde strand out of her face, staring at her blue eyes that matched her mothers.

"Hey sweetie. Go back to bed Daddy will see you in the morning." In the back of my mind, I selfishly wanted her to stay up so we could spend time together. Although we had forever to talk, I missed my 5 year old princess. I feel as though she's growing up without me. I've already missed her first words and her first ballet recital, what else could I miss in my first child's life?

"Are you gonna eat with us, or the more casual, 'hi... bye.' Kind of thing?" Liz said as she walked through the doors with her arms crossed over her chest. From her wet hair, and amazing smelling body, I had guessed she just came out the shower. Something I hadn't noticed from the window when I had arrived.

"I will make sure I eat with my family tomorrow morning." I looked over at Haley, as Liz came to sit on my lap. I smiled at Liz, and picked up Haley's hand. Her tiny hand that had just been bruised the other day in a 'not so innocent' game of checkers with her friend. Our pinkie's interlocked as I said, "I promise."

Haley's smile was what I was waiting for and when her pearly whites appeared, I leaned in and kissed her forehead, and said, "You better go to sleep then Monkey. That way, the morning will come sooner, and I'll make you your very own big girl bowl of oatmeal!" At that, Haley hurriedly hopped up a bit and kissed my cheek, and covered herself up in blankets, ready for some more hours of sleep. A smile actually stayed on her face until she fell back asleep. Liz had also relaxed in my arms a bit, enjoying the moment as much as I was.

She suddenly whispered, "I still can't believe she's our daughter. She's so perfect… You know today she tried to blackmail me into buying her a gift. She said her friend, Natalie's birthday is coming up and she wanted to buy her a Hello Kitty costume." I giggled quietly, as I looked around the room at her Hello Kitty radio, Hello Kitty backpack, Hello Kitty stuffed animals, Hello Kitty blankets, Hello Kitty dolls. Everything Hello Kitty.

"I guess she does have other qualities like me… Other than looks. Although her eyes are yours, she got every ounce of charm from me... I mean she couldn't have gotten it from anyone else so..." Liz slapped my arm and giggled before standing up, holding a hand out for me. I took her hand gratefully, and walked towards the door. Before exiting completely, I looked at my daughter, and thought, 'I am the luckiest man alive.' And smiled, as Liz pulled me into our bedroom.

It was precisely 2 a.m. when I had finished showering and me and Liz were ready for bed. We both crawled in on opposite sides (me on the right) and snuggled together to get warm. I remember as a kid, when it was freezing, I would squeal when my body started to get warm from the cold. It would be like coming out of a pool of ice, and getting into a hot tub. It's that 'ahh' feeling you get. I guess old habits die hard, because as soon as I was fully warm, I squealed in excitement, and squirmed my legs a bit. I heard Liz giggle before getting closer to my chest. When I felt her feet upon mine, I thanked the good Lord that she was wearing socks. If there's one thing about Liz you could be sure of, it's that her feet were _always_ cold. I just bought her some socks but her stubborn attitude stopped her from wearing them. She said, "If I don't like socks, I'm not gonna wear them." But finally, she wears the socks. I was doing a little victory dance in my head, and didn't realize Liz had asked me a question.

"Michael?" I sat up a bit and stared at her emotionless face wondering what she'd said before.

"Yes?" I said, before butterfly kissing her jawline, down to her neck.

"I said: how was your day?" She repeated, with a hint of attitude at having to repeat herself.

"Umm, fine. Nothing new happened, just the usual helping patients with diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. Nothing new." I said, settling back down on the pillows.

"Oh well that's good. Did you say hi to Jeffery for me today?" She giggled, as she knew she I don't care for him.

"Hardy har har babe. You know, if you wanna go see your nephew, you are always welcomed at the Hospital. He does owe you a thank you for getting him here. He barely passed medical school in the first place." I exclaimed, thinking about Liz's young nephew who annoys the mess out of everyone with his asshole comments.

"Haha whatever babe. Well today Haley got picked for a better position in soccer. She has a game next Saturday. Can you be there, or does some undeserving winey patient need your services?" She said playfully annoyed with my busy job. Although she is joking, it does irritate me that I miss both my daughter and Liz all day. I barely get free time on the weekends. But it does help to know that both Liz and Haley support my job, and are proud of the work I do.

"I am sure if I am busy, I can make it happen regardless. I wouldn't miss her game. Especially because she's so excited for soccer."

"Well great, it's a date then. I'm no soccer mom though so don't expect me to have a million chairs, and snacks."

"I wouldn't expect anything different, babe. All I know is, we're both gonna be those really competitive parents who get overly mad about everything wrong in the game."

"I wouldn't expect anything different, babe." She giggled as she mocked me. I couldn't help but giggle too, as sleep decided to strike just as we were having fun.

"Tease." I said, kissing her neck a few more times before switching off the bedside lamp and gathering Liz in my arms once again.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She muttered as we fell asleep peacefully.

* * *

Okay, so I have good news and bad news…The good news is I will be continuing Countdown (for those of you who don't know, that's my other story... Maybe go check it out, ehh?) Yaaay! Bad news is, I don't plan on Continuing Heidecker anytime soon. I won't totally give up on it, but we'll see what happens! Now, leave a review! I know you want too!


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